Intermittent Fasting

TopazCutie

"Intermittent fasting (IF) is a pattern of eating that alternates between periods of fasting (usually meaning consumption of water only) and non-fasting." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermittent_fasting

Basically what I gathered is one can eat whatever they want but only within a specified time during the day (ie. 5pm to 10pm). During the fasting time you keep hydrated with water and other beverages with negligible calorie content. What are your thoughts about this?

mallory3411

What is the reasoning behind wanting to do this?

I don't see the point of it... but I'm not sure your reasons.

Sunlight2011

I'm not so sure this is a good idea. The body needs a steady flow of fuel throughout the day and denying it this will lead to low blood sugar and generally feeling crap.

Vodkha

Here we go again. LOL.

I do this, my eating window is 6-10pm. It works well for me. I love not having to prepare multiple meals and snack and stop and eat every 3 hours.

Your body doesn't care when it gets fed, your body does not shut down digestion and metabolism at night time. Food eaten late at night will not automatically be stored as fat.

Exercising while fasted feels great!

TopazCutie

Here we go again. LOL.

I do this, my eating window is 6-10pm. It works well for me. I love not having to prepare multiple meals and snack and stop and eat every 3 hours.

Your body doesn't care when it gets fed, your body does not shut down digestion and metabolism at night time. Food eaten late at night will not automatically be stored as fat.

Exercising while fasted feels great!

I think people don't understand that you still eat all your daily calories during the day. You're not starving yourself. More like giving your body a chance to burn stored fat.

TopazCutie

I'm not so sure this is a good idea. The body needs a steady flow of fuel throughout the day and denying it this will lead to low blood sugar and generally feeling crap.

If your body gets a steady flow of fuel how will it ever use up the fuel stored on your hips, thighs and stomach. Serious question, I'm not for or against regular meals but I'm just trying to think critically about it.

nickyrobinson

I was talking to my acupuncturist about intermittent fasting, and he sent me this link:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/fasting-weight-loss/#more-27872

Also, he mentioned that he personally does an intermittent fast once or twice a week, where he abstains from food in the Jewish manner, i.e. from sundown to sundown. Then it is precisely 24 hours, as opposed to some people who don't eat for an entire waking day, but that makes it 32 hours when you add in 2 sleeping periods.

He also said that most hormonal effects that contribute to a slow down of metabolism appear to take 2-3 days to crank up, so 24 hours of no food will not be a problem.

That being said, if you have blood sugar issues (up, down or sideways), approach with care.

I haven't decided if I am going to try this. Perhaps if I plateau for more than a week. Anyway, something to keep in my bag od tricks.

weathergirl320

I'm not so sure this is a good idea. The body needs a steady flow of fuel throughout the day and denying it this will lead to low blood sugar and generally feeling crap.

If your body gets a steady flow of fuel how will it ever use up the fuel stored on your hips, thighs and stomach. Serious question, I'm not for or against regular meals but I'm just trying to think critically about it.

Ding ding ding! Ten points to the critical thinker! This is exactly the point. And people obsessed with snacking on special k ans kashi bars every two hours to "keep their metabolism going" wonder why they can't lose weight! Hello give your body a chance to use its store of energy instead of grazing all day!

Sunlight2011

Well its about what works for the individual. I just know if I don't eat regularly I get hypo symptoms and its not pleasant but if it works for you great.

hush7hush

I am personally fond of the form of IF where you fast for one or two whole days a week. [:

honeysprinkles

I don't know much about it, but it seems interesting. I'd like to see some responses from people who've tried it, this sounds like it could work for me, especially since I eat out often so I get a good amount of calories from one meal on those days.

llindsey26

For anyone interested in more information about IF, the diets are called either Eat Stop Eat or JUDDD (which stands for Johnsons up day down day).

I personally am doing JUDDD now. Simply put, rotate between up days and down days. A up day would be eating just about anything up to a max of 2000 calories. Then the next day would be a down day where you can only eat up to 400 calories.

Research the diets, you can get the scientific explanations.

shelleyinbc

I've been doing it for 6 days now, following the Fast5 method and I feel fantastic. I also work out in the mornings almost daily. My eating window is from 3-8 p/m.
And I've lost 6 pounds which feels fantastic. All but one day I have had as much or more calories than before I started it. I drink loads of herbal tea and water with lemon during the waking fast period.

bennscrappy

I’ve been doing Intermittent Fasting since mid-January. Using MyFitnessPal, I was consuming 1,700 calories spread out over 5-6 meals, which can be somewhat difficult. That was my first attraction to IF, the ability to eat a large social meal if I wanted to. It is much easier to eat a 1,700 calorie meal.
I started off with the www.leangains.com 16/8 IF, but now I do more of a 20/4 IF. I always consume some pre-workout protein for weightlifting and I end the fast right after my weightlifting session. I have done fasted cardio with good success and I’ve tried a 42 hour extended fast. I’m not sure if I got much benefit off the extended fast, but I’ll try it again sometime. I lost 5 lbs, but then gained it right back and I seemed to have lost some lean muscle.
The first week or two of IF are difficult to adjust to, but after that it is a breeze. Controlling hunger during the day is much easier than controlling the snacking at night. I never was a coffee drinker, but now I am finding I really do enjoy black coffee while on the fast. I also found some sugar free cinnamon gum to chew on when hunger pains strike.
I don’t know if IF is any better or worse than eating multiple meals throughout the day, I just find it more likeable. My weight loss progress has stayed about the same either way. Either way the macronutrient goals set by MyFitnessPal are what I go by, IF is just the method I consume them in.

llindsey26

Conrats shelleyinbc on the weight loss!

bennscrappy

I'm not so sure this is a good idea. The body needs a steady flow of fuel throughout the day and denying it this will lead to low blood sugar and generally feeling crap.

This is a common misconception. I have fasted every day since mid-January (20/4) and I have never had a low blood sugar episode. As for the feeling like crap, I get that question often or “how do you have energy?” too. Truth is food doesn’t give you energy, your activity level does. I am very active now and have never felt better. Activity level is also what drives your metabolism. I compare our bodies to cars. Food is the gasoline we put in, but the amount of power we have is determined by our engine size (muscle). If you lack energy, you need to put on more muscle not eat more food. If anything we have too much energy from food, that’s why it gets stored as fat.
Now days I play racquetball about once a week, and most of those times I am in the fasted state for 16-20 hours. I play hard from start to finish and never think about how long I’ve gone without food. Afterwards I’m tired, which is to be expected fasted or fed. One time I did play racquetball 3 hours after consuming a 1,200 calorie meal. I’ve never felt worse or more lethargic on the court.

HonkyTonks

I do IF - I do Eat Stop Eat, where I do not eat anything for 2 x 24 hour periods a week. Every other day I eat normally, usually to maintenance. I have been shrinking rapidly doing this.

There is a group on MFP for IF'ers here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/66-intermittent-fasting

Good luck!

ksimms

I do a window style of eating, mine is usually somewhere in the realm of 12-9 on at the "office" days, and when I'm at my own clinic I try to do 2-9.

I've been thinking of making my window a bit shorter, but I'm still a little nervous about it, I work in a registered massage therapist so massaging somebody's head while my stomach "serenades" them is a bit much sometimes :P

for some more information, check out

www.theiflife.com

www.leangains.com

shelleyinbc

As a bit of an update: it was day 10 doing the Fast5 version of IF that I suddenly realized I was not nearly as hungry during the waking fast and by the time the eating window came I was totally cool to keep going, moving my window from 3-8 to 4-9. What I'm still facing is eating when I'm not hungry during the eating phase daily. I realize this is purely psychological and i need to work on stopping when I've had enough.

PapaverSomniferum

I try to be an intuitive eater. I eat when I'm hungry

and my "natural" eating pattern seems to basically be this. I'm only ever really hungry between 6 and 10pm.

Sarauk2sf

I'm not so sure this is a good idea. The body needs a steady flow of fuel throughout the day and denying it this will lead to low blood sugar and generally feeling crap.

If your body gets a steady flow of fuel how will it ever use up the fuel stored on your hips, thighs and stomach. Serious question, I'm not for or against regular meals but I'm just trying to think critically about it.

Ding ding ding! Ten points to the critical thinker! This is exactly the point. And people obsessed with snacking on special k ans kashi bars every two hours to "keep their metabolism going" wonder why they can't lose weight! Hello give your body a chance to use its store of energy instead of grazing all day!

I am not against IF, but people do lose weight 'grazing' as long as they are within their calorie goal. People have had success with both.

TheDevastator

I eat between 7-12 at night, well sometimes to 3 am if I still have calories to eat . I've never been starving and have lost 19 pounds so far.

Microfiber_wechange

This sounds very interesting. I think I may give it a trial for a week, beginning tomorrow. I'm actually pleased that I can drink water during the 'FAST' period. I'll make my eating hours between 5 to 10p.m and feedback after a week. Thank you.

BlaireV

I've been doing the leangains IF (16 hour fast, 8 hour feeding window) for just over 6 weeks now, and I absolutely love it. I'm never hungry, and always go to bed satiated. I can eat a massive meal out with friends and have them wonder how it is that I'm losing weight I've lost around 8 pounds since starting (this is with very little exercise). I plan on trying ESE (eat stop eat) this week. I was never one to eat in the morning and found eating during the day to be a chore, hence why I love IF. You need to find something that suits you.